It was the big day of the historical scavenger hunt. The air in the history committee was buzzing with excitement. “And,” said the intercom in HQ. “3, 2, 1!” Then, suddenly, the PA crackled. It stopped entirely. Lucia Baker, the committee’s resident detective, was immediately suspicious. “Sabotage,” she whispered.

Of course, she was correct. Meanwhile, Max Edison was happily playing… with his hacking control. Yes, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Yes, Max was the mole. In the headquarters, everyone freaked out. What was this? A glitch? Or was it someone determined to ruin the event? Suddenly everyone wanted to find out.

The scavenger hunt started after a few minutes of resetting. Everyone still managed to stay upbeat… until one of the clues was missing. A history artifact hidden in a box in Amsterdam wasn’t there. Even the head of the committee acknowledged it was hidden there. Then everything spiralled out of control.

A meeting at the Le Comité d'Histoire later brought this issue to mind. Someone was sabotaging it. And Lucia Baker was on the verge of figuring it out. She knew that whoever it was had dropped a few Japanese yen where the box had been.But what was the connection? John Marcus had been to Japan lately, but… suddenly, she figured it out.

“May I speak, please?” Lucia Baker asked the committee boss. “I think I know something.”
So Lucia stepped up onto the stage. “Among us, there is an impostor,” she began. Everyone in the room started to murmur and look at their neighbors. “And I know who it is.”

The room erupted. “The cookie crumbs were a clue. So were the yen. But it doesn’t match up. The cookie crumbs…” she paused for effect. “Were put there so they could feel their way back. Yes. The traitor is blind.”

“The yen, as it turns out, were all new and minted in 2024. This could mean… that the impostor hates the past. They hate history.” A gasp rippled through the audience. “And finally,” said Lucia. “My last piece of evidence.” What could it be?

“Well,” Lucia said slyly. “The yen had a piece of kelp on them. That means swimming- unless it’s ANCIENT kelp from a few thousand years ago. This sample was found in Sydney, a place no-one should have been to…”

“Except for Max Edison, our boss.” The crowd exploded like trinitrotoluene (TNT). The boss of the committee… hated history? It was hard to believe. Max rushed out of the door, but a horde of historians grabbed him and held him. He was eventually let off but banned from the committee. Le Comité d'Histoire arranged for the scavenger hunt to happen later in March 2025. Lucia Baker became the new boss.

THE END